


Confession

by Liron_aria



Series: You Rise With The Sun, I Rise With The Moon [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Grief, I am so sorry about this, Spirit World, Tissue Warning, Zutara Month 2014, i don't know what happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liron_aria/pseuds/Liron_aria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Come dance with us!</i> La says.</p>
<p><i>I cannot,</i> Katara replies, <i>I have a confession to make.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Confession

**Author's Note:**

> Tissue warning. This chapter earns that T rating. This is the flip side to the previous chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated characters. Zara, Telon, and Kiya are my own invention, as is the idea behind this story.
> 
> With that said, please, sit back and enjoy!

_Come dance with us!_  La says.

_I cannot,_  Katara replies,  _I have a confession to make._

Yue looks at her, gentle and distant. Is she still Yue? Do people call her Tui? Do their people know that Tui died and that it is now Yue and La, not Tui and La, or has Yue  _become_  Tui, not just her replacement?

_Come dance with us, Katara._

_I cannot. I have a confession to make. I killed my children._

Yue and La stare at her.  _Tell us._

It was a cave-in, Katara remembers. They were supposed to be on vacation; she and the twins had gone on ahead, while Zuko stayed behind at the Capital until Kiya got over her cold. Zara and Telon, ten years old and full of their mother's adventurous spirit, had begged and pleaded to be allowed to go exploring. There was a cave system nearby, full of nooks and crannies and hidey-holes. Even Katara had found herself curious and excited to explore, imagining wandering the caverns hand-in-hand like young lovers.

It was supposed to be safe.

They had no enemies in the nearby village - in fact, it was a challenge to get away from the well-wishers and citizens yearning for a glimpse of their Royal Family. A local baker had plied them with buns and treats for their outing -  _No, my Lady, I insist, your children enjoy them and their smiles bring joy to us all_  - and a local guide had assured them the caves were safe and well explored already.  _Our children play here frequently, my Lady, I'm sure the twins will have a great time!_

It wasn't safe.

The earthquake had come out of nowhere. One minute she had been laughing and telling Zara to stop teasing her brother, and the next -

_I killed my children,_  Katara says, four words to end a story she doesn't want to remember.

_Tell us._

_Tell us so you can come dance._

The Water Tribes have many legends about the Moon and Ocean Spirits, telling of their wrath and their joy and their creation of the world. While other nations' spirits blaze and grow and run, their spirits  _dance_ , as rivers and streams do the world over. Yugoda once told her that Tui favored benders, who pushed and pulled at the water from afar as the Moon did the tides, and La favored non-benders, who moved through the oceans with their bodies.

_Who favors the murderers?_  Katara wonders.

Katara remembers her shield of ice shattering under the onslaught of rock, the stone hard and unyielding as she tried to turn it into mud. She remembers pain, and blood, hot and sticky as it covered her side. She remembers Zara's screams and Telon's tears and  _Mama I can't feel my legs Mom I can't see What happened Mommy help_ and  _Zara, no!_  as the Fire Princess tried to burn their way out.

Katara remembers Zara's flame sputtering out and her breathing going shallow as there was so much less air left. She remembers pushing away rock and crawling to her children while wishing Zuko was there, that he would pick her up as effortlessly has he did when he took her to bed after she asleep working.

Katara remembers  _I'm scared, Mommy_  and  _Shh, my darling, Mommy's here, everything's going to be fine._  They were the Fire Nation's Royal Family, precious to the hearts of the people. Someone would know, someone would come. Zuko would come; he wouldn't rest until they were safe in his arms again. This was not the end for them.

Katara remembers screaming herself hoarse, calling for help. She remembers trying to bend what little water she had to ease Telon's pain and heal Zara's cuts. If it had just been herself, she would have bent blood and sweat and tears against the rock until  _something gave_ , but with two children depending on her for healing, she couldn't do more than wait.

Katara remembers  _I'm sleepy, Mommy_  and seeing her mother standing over them and realizing, yes, this was the end. There was no way out, and they were going to suffocate to death in this tiny nightmare of a tomb.

_I placed my hands on my children's chests,_  Katara says, _and sang to them as I stopped their hearts._

She had closed her eyes after that, leaning back against the rock and pretending she was leaning against Zuko's broad chest, that they were all safe in their rooms in the palace, that Zara and Telon and Kiya were piled on the huge bed around them, fast asleep as Zuko and Katara watched over them. She had closed her eyes, pretending she was drawing on Zuko's strength, blazing brightly in the night.

When she opened her eyes, La was standing in front of her, hand outstretched, demanding,  _Come dance with us!_

Yue and La watch her and she remains still, awaiting judgement. Yue takes her hand, and perhaps there is truth to the idea that the Moon favors the waterbenders after all.  _There is no end to the sacrifices a mother will make for her children, Katara._

_You sang us to sleep, Mom._

Katara's heart freezes in her chest. Is this her punishment?

Telon bounds up to her, hand-in-hand with Zara, his blue eyes shining.  _You sang us to sleep, and now it doesn't hurt anymore!_

Zara grins at her, no malice in the golden eyes she shares with her father, and she tugs Telon forward to hug Katara tightly.  _Mama, come dance with us._

Katara thinks she might be crying as she squeezes Yue's hand tightly and wraps her other arm around the twins.

_Mama, don't cry!_  Zara insists,  _It's so nice here. You'll love it._

Zara latches onto Yue's free hand as Telon grabs onto La. The Ocean Spirit turns to her, holding out his hand again.  _Come dance with us!_

Katara slips her hand into his and starts to dance.

**Author's Note:**

> How bad was it? I was aiming for an ethereal tone, and it may have just come out as me being high.


End file.
